Early this morning, at about several minutes after 7am(+8:00 GMT), a
Chinese tourist
bus has been hijacked and was hostaged in
Manila,
Philippines. It was said that a
rogue ex-Police
Officer commandeered the bus. For the past few hours, local
police were trying to solved the crisis.
Shot's had been fired. Bystanders were hurt. Rumors run around that that atleast 15 of the passengers were killed, which was reported by the
bus driver who was able to escape the current situation. Although, authorities say that there was no way for them to confirm the information provided by the driver since almost all of the bus' curtains were let down.
The said assailant wants to clear his name due to the charges that were filed against him in 2008, which included
extortion, robbery, grave threat and physical injuries. These charges resulted to the forfeiting of his retirement benefits as well as disqualification from
government service.
Just several minutes ago, it has been confirmed that the assailant, Capt. Mendoza, has been killed. And 2 passengers were reported to have exited with the assistance of the local SWAT. Several bodies were being brought out from the bus, some of them confirmed to be lifeless which even included a child. This disaster is a big hurdle for the new administration. It is being assumed that most of the passengers are dead.
With the sudden end to this 12-hour crisis, the next questions arises: who is Capt. Rolando Mendoza was and what his reasons were behind this horrific scene.
Even with the heavy down pour of rain and thunder did not stop the flood of reporters and bystanders to know and see how this tragic drama ended.
Is hostaging an excuse to clear someone's name? If so, what was Capt. Mendoza's purpose? If you were in his situation, would you do something of this level to clear your name? Is this the path your willing to tread?
